Farm-labor firm allowed to resume work
Global Horizons was shut down in June in a dispute over workers' compensation benefits
An immigrant-farm-labor company that was ordered to shut down in June for not providing workers' compensation insurance for its employees has been given the green light to resume operations.
Circuit Judge Victoria Marks, who initially granted a temporary restraining order against the Los Angeles-based firm Global Horizons Inc., ruled on Friday that the company should not be held in civil contempt and gave permission for the 130 or so migrant workers to resume their jobs. A follow-up hearing is slated for Sept. 15 to review the company's claim that it is providing workers' compensation insurance to employees.
Global Horizons' immigrant employees work on farms on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
While the company has returned to business, it still must prove that it is in compliance with Hawaii's workers' compensation regulations and it faces additional legal action over whether it provides employees with unemployment insurance and adequate housing, state labor director Nelson Befitel said.
State health and safety inspectors issued repeated citations earlier this year against Global, alleging the company committed violations by providing substandard housing for its employees, Befitel said. At the time, inspectors cited Global for failing to provide sufficient living space and exposing workers to electrical and fire hazards, he said.
Still, Marks' ruling is good news for Global Horizons and for Hawaii's agricultural industry, which is entering into its busy macadamia nut and coffee season, said Mordechai Orian, Global Horizons' chief strategic officer.
"With Hawaii's agricultural industry wilting under low unemployment, the court-ordered suspension on June 27 of our company's operations landed a body-blow to the farmers where our workers are such a valued help," Orian said.
As a result of the shutdown order, Global lost a $900,000 farm contract and millions of dollars worth of revenue, said Orian, whose company provides labor for about 20 clients in Hawaii.
The workers, who come mainly from Thailand and Vietnam, also experienced hardships when they were forced to temporarily suspend their $9.99-an-hour jobs in Hawaii's agricultural fields, he said.
"I had farmers call with tears in their eyes from happiness when we walked out of court on Friday," Orian said. "The farmers were freaking out."
Orian said that he is confident that Marks' action will be upheld and that all other pending legal actions will be dismissed.
"I was always confident that once all the facts were known in this case, we would be found in compliance and our workers allowed to work," he said.
Befitel said the state is cautiously optimistic that Global Horizons is providing its migrant workers with the rights and benefits they are entitled to under state law, but that further proof is needed from the company before all the complaints against it can be dismissed. "We haven't been satisfied with the documents that they have provided for us," he said.
Global Horizons, which has been in business for about 16 years and supplies H2A-designated migrant workers to clients in about 28 states, has experienced more difficulties in Hawaii than in any other state, Orian said.
"We haven't had any similar experiences anywhere else," he said.
The company, which has had as many as 400 employees in Hawaii, has been doing business in the islands for about six years, Orian said.
